Sunday, July 3, 2016

Bertuchs' Bilderbuch für Kinder

One of the frustrating medical conditions I've developed is sudden trembling / painful cramps of my hands and fingers, which had gotten so bad a few years ago that I really had to take time off from work for a long long time. The thing is, you can't bind a book when your hands are screwed up. It's the worst thing that can happen to a bookbinder.

This particular condition has gotten better these days, so the last few months, I decided to work on books that required relatively heavy tooling. This is one of them; Bilderbuch für Kinder by F. J. Bertuchs. Though my hands' spasm bullshit had gotten quieter and less frequent, a slight trembling tends to start whenever my mind focuses on my fingers, and the more I focus, the bigger the trembling becomes.. It's a strange medical mystery, and I tell you what; IT'S F***ING ANNOYING! (excuse me for my French..)

Anyway, one of our regular clients brought this three-volume set of Bertuchs' Bilderbuch für Kinder a few years ago, - just around the time I started getting really sick, and it has been put aside until now due to my absence. I feel absolutely horrible about this delay, but now it's done! He brought a picture of a set of volumes (pictured left) and asked for a brand new leather binding just like that. As you see on the picture, the volume numbers are tooled on onlay; a thinly skived leather is trimmed in shape and glued directly onto the surface, then the edge is tooled blind or in gold afterwards. It's a common practice, but I don't think I've shown an example of onlay on my blog before, so I decided to post this work here this time. You can have fun with onlay for your personal project for sure! But make sure to skive the leather well, and tool the edge afterwards. Or, the leather piece will peel off easily, and let me just be frank; it just simply doesn't look good. ;-)

Bilderbuch für Kinder, translates as "picture book for children" in German, is filled with lots of coolest picture plates. I'll try to put some of them up on my blog when I get a chance. ;-)
----UPDATE----
The volumes have been picked up before I took photos of the picture plates.. So I can't put them on my blog. Sorry!

Hey guy! Inlay's an useful and effective way to showcase artistic/creative skills on books, and it's really fun to do! Its somewhat organic finish gives more life that's so different from "stamped" ornaments. One quick tip for inlay is to apply some moisture on the leather before glueing it to the inlay surface. Just wipe the leather surface with a damp cloth. Leather's easier to work this when it's moist. ;-)

Thanks. ;-) "dyeing" method on this particular volumes a bit different and actually somewhat less time consuming than others. - but mind you, ways I dye leather are always different. The "finish" for these books came out almost exactly I intended to create, so I'm happy with them. I just hope the client like them as well. - He's working abroad, so they won't be picked up so soon.

About Me

My blog tells all about me: A mystery bookbinder surrounded by dusty old books. English is my second language, so pardon me if my writing isn't perfect. I'm not telling you which bindery I work for, as this is my personal record of my life as a traditional bookbinder. I'm not here to advertise. If you have any questions, leave a comment.